George Mason University

GMU Streamlines Collections & Revenue

George Mason University is the the largest public research university in the commonwealth of Virginia. With multiple campuses located in one of the most congested regions in the U.S. for traffic – the Washington D.C. area – you can be assured parking and transportation issues abound.

With nearly 30,000 students enrolled at the main campus in Fairfax, VA, including a large percentage of commuters, and parking operations tasked to a small university staff, George Mason relies heavily on outside expertise. A long-time T2 customer who trusts the UNIFI Parking Management Platform, they turned over their citation collections to T2’s Citation Services (CS) in 2008.

Excellent Customer Service

Since then, George Mason has seen great success, both in improved customer service and debt collection. They have made significant inroads in unpaid parking citations – collecting an additional $300,000 in just the first two years with T2 as older debt was recovered. Currently, the citation resolved rate is above 90%.

“Over the course of the years it’s become a very consistent process for us – there’s very little that we have to do in the collection process,” said Josh Cantor, Director of Parking and Transportation. “With T2, parking is all they do – and they bring such excellent customer service to a process that has traditionally had a bad rap,” he added.

Professional Services Upholding the University’s Image

Although George Mason had initial concerns of having a third party contact their student faculty, staff, and alumni debtors, T2 was able to put aside those hesitations early on. In eight years, Cantor is happy to note the citation process is always handled professionally, and the university’s image has always been upheld.

The Process

George Mason’s automated process transfers unpaid tickets to T2’s Citations Services after 60 days. University parking staff can easily track and report on when collection letters are sent and view fees and citation costs in a customer’s account balance – a straightforward process that is very transparent and easy to maintain. Customers can conveniently pay CS or George Mason’s Parking Services through T2’s FlexPort.

“Citation Services is really just an extension of Flex. There is very little for us to do,” Cantor acknowledged. “It is easier for the university and the customer. We get our citation payments and revenue in a timely process. It really has made our lives a lot easier in dealing with customers.”

Fewer Citations, Same Revenue

The number of citations issued continues to decline as awareness grows that George Mason takes parking seriously. “We have seen better compliance in permit regulations and less people taking chances.” Yet despite writing fewer parking tickets, their revenue remains the same, thanks to T2’s collection efforts.

And he noted, “As we’ve gone through our collections process using T2 and our Flex products, we’re at the point where we have relatively little outstanding debt at the end of the fiscal year.”